Parents hit their children because they think doing so will improve their behavior, unfortunately for parents who hit, our research found clear and compelling evidence that physical punishment does not improve children's behavior and instead makes it worse.

Elizabeth Gershoff

Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff is Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She is known for her research on the impact of corporal punishment in the home and at school on children and their mental health.Gershoff was awarded the 2014 Lifetime Legacy Achievement Award from the Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago for her efforts to end legalized violence against children. In the book Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Legal Precedents, Current Practices, and Future Policy, Gershoff and colleagues draw attention to the fact that corporal punishment in schools remains legal in 19 states. The authors estimate that nearly 200,000 children are victims of corporal punishment in schools and that many Americans are unaware of the physical injuries these children obtain from corporal punishment in school. Gershoff's co-edited book Social Contexts of Child Development: Pathways of Influence and Implications for Practice and Policy, with Rashmita S. Mistry, and Danielle A. Crosby, received the 2014 Society for Research on Adolescence Social Policy Award for Best Edited Book. She is co-author of the popular textbook How Children Develop, with Robert S. Siegler, Jenny Saffran, Nancy Eisenberg, and Judy DeLoache.

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